Orioles’ Mike Elias On Rodriguez/Ward Trade, Pitching Search, Non-Tender Decisions

Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias held a video conference with reporters (including Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com) on Friday to discuss both the team’s decisions at the non-tender deadline and several other topics, most notably the major one-for-one swap earlier this week that sent Grayson Rodriguez to the Angels in exchange for Taylor Ward.

The trade represented something of a long-term goal for the front office, as Elias said Ward is “somebody that we’ve been chasing for at least for a couple years, just because of the profile, the big right-handed power.”  Adding Ward brought more balance to a Baltimore lineup that was pretty heavy in left-handed bats, and finally making the move to obtain him now was related to both the Orioles’ needs and broader market conditions.  “I wasn’t confident where else somebody like him would come from on the free agent and trade market right now that has the sort of bat that we think he has and what he did last year,” Elias said.

With this perceived scarcity in mind, the Orioles were ultimately willing to move Rodriguez, which counted as a surprise on many levels.  Injuries have kept G-Rod off a big league mound since July 31, 2024, yet it wasn’t long ago that the former top prospect was viewed as a building block of the Orioles’ rotation.  Rodriguez also isn’t slated for free agency until after the 2029 season, whereas Ward is controlled through just the 2026 season.

Elias cited Ward as a potential qualifying offer candidate heading into free agency, “so that could change that equation a little bit” in terms of “the mismatch in the amount of potential team control.”  But in general, the O’s were ultimately willing to take the risk of moving Rodriguez in order to pry Ward away from Los Angeles.

“It’s uncomfortable to make trades, usually.  It’s hard to line up, and you’re going to give something up,” Elias said.  “That is always going to be difficult and interesting….Grayson’s a great kid.  We loved bringing him up in this organization and rearing him, and he’s got a bright future.  And sometimes, trades are a part of baseball.”

Losing Rodriguez deepens Baltimore’s need for starting pitching, which Elias reiterated as a chief goal of the club’s offseason.  Kyle Bradish, Trevor Rogers, Dean Kremer, Tyler Wells, and Cade Povich now line up as the projected starting five, with Brandon Young and Chayce McDermott in the minors as the top depth options.  It’s a group that needed more experience and clear top-of-the-rotation upside even when Rodriguez was still in the fold, and Elias said again that his team is looking at many pitchers, “whether it’s top or front or top half of the rotation, all those buckets.  We’re trying, and there are guys out there and we are in pursuit of every one of them.”

With both the rotation and bullpen as needs, a reunion with swingman Albert Suarez could help on two fronts, and Elias said the Orioles were interested in a reunion even after non-tendering the right-hander yesterday.  “I don’t want to go into details about our decision-making as we approach these tender decisions, but we very much are fans of Albert and we’re very much hoping to continue talking to him, and made that clear to him and his group,” the PBO said.

Suarez is another pitcher looking to rebound from a lost 2025 season, as he tossed only 11 2/3 innings for the Orioles last year.  A right rotator cuff sidelined Suarez for most of the year, and he was also hit by a flexor tendon strain in his right forearm near the end of the season.  The flexor strain was said to be minor enough that surgery didn’t seem necessary, and Suarez was expected to resume a throwing program after a recovery period.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected that Suarez would receive a $900K salary in his first trip through the arbitration process, as Suarez’s earning potential was obviously dampened by his lack of time on the mound in 2025.  Despite that modest salary and the Orioles’ remaining years of control, the team still opted to part ways with Suarez.  It could be that the O’s think they can bring Suarez back at an even lower price tag, or the club may have some misgivings about Suarez’s health situation.

While Elias mentioned the Orioles’ wide-ranging search for pitching, he didn’t directly allude to the possibility of pivoting and now trading a bat for rotation help.  This seemed like a logical avenue for Baltimore to explore heading into the offseason, and the tactic perhaps makes even more sense in the wake of both the Ward trade and the fact that the O’s tendered a contract to Ryan Mountcastle.  Between Mountcastle’s projected $7.8MM arbitration salary, his disappointing 2025 numbers, and a first base picture that also includes Samuel Basallo and Coby Mayo, there was plenty of speculation that the Orioles would just part ways with Mountcastle entirely.

Instead, the O’s kept Mountcastle because “we think he’s a great hitter,” Elias stated, noting that Mountcastle’s production was impacted by a hamstring strain that kept him on the injured list for over two months.  Elias isn’t concerned over any potential roster surplus, as he again pointed to the many injury concerns that helped sink the Orioles’ 2025 season.

“As we lived through last year, you have to worry about depth, too.  This is something that will sort itself out.  I think the main thing is we don’t want to discard a good hitter if we don’t have to, and we want to keep our talent, and these guys are all really promising bats,” Elias said.

Another bat or two might yet join the mix, as Elias said “we are definitely still pursuing upgrades to the lineup.  But I think that Taylor’s presence really solidifies the outfield picture in a way that gives us more flexibility with hunting that next impact bat and where that person plays.”  In terms of specific positions, Elias said the team would like to have more center field depth, even with Colton Cowser and the newly-acquired Leody Taveras currently lined up up the middle.